A marina is a sheltered harbor where vessels, such as boats and yachts, are kept in the water and where services geared to the needs of recreational boating may be found.
The marina may have re-fueling, washing and repair facilities, ship chandlers, stores and restaurants. Marinas may include ground facilities such as parking lots for vehicles and boat trailers. The marina may also include storage facilities for storing boats outside the boating season.
In a marina, boats are moored either on buoys or on fixed or floating walkways that are tied to an anchoring piling by a roller or ring mechanism (floating docks or pontoons). A fixed or floating walkway is typically configured to form a number of boat slips having walkways near the boat on two or more sides of the boat or yacht. A slip may also be termed a mooring position. The slip also includes mooring points, such as cleats, on the top deck of the slip, to allow the vessel owner to moor his or her vessel to the slip. The slip may also include plug-ins to provide electrical power, telephone services and the like to the vessel.
A larger marina may have rows and rows of slips. The slips may also be of different sizes to accommodate different sized vessels. Most marinas have general lighting on light posts that extend well above the deck of the docks or walkways forming the slip. The general lights are spaced apart. Some slips may not be as well lit as some other slips. Some slips may also include supplemental lighting on a post attached to the decking material of the walkway. The lighting is generally above the gunwale of the vessel. With this type of lighting, it may be difficult to determine the spacing between the vessel and the slip during the mooring process, especially during the night or other low light times. It may even be difficult to determine the spacing between a vessel and the slip when the slip happens to be positioned near an overhead light in the marina. In addition, if the owner is unfamiliar with the location of the slip, it may be difficult to locate the slip during night time or other low light times. The same can happen to a vessel owner that is familiar with the marina should the owner become confused during night time or low light hours.
All Figures are illustrated for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of various embodiments of the present invention only; the extensions of the Figures with respect to number, position, relationship and dimensions of the parts to form the preferred embodiment(s) will be explained or will be within the skill of the art after the following description has been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similar requirements for various applications will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following description has been read and understood.
Where used in various Figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “top,” “bottom,” “right,” “left,” “front,” “rear,” “first,” “second,” “inside,” “outside,” and similar terms are used, the terms should be understood to reference only the structure shown in the drawings and utilized only to facilitate describing the illustrated embodiments. The terms should be understood to reference the structures shown in the drawings as they will typically be utilized by a rider of a vehicle including apparatus in accordance with the present inventions.